“RUNAWAY PLANET.”
EXPECTED TO RETURN. CAPETOWN, Jan. 11. The “baby planet” which nearly collided with the earth last October, and which was first observed by Dr Reinmuth, the Heidelberg scientist, has now been named the “Runaway Planet.” It will return within three years, according to the astronomer, Dr A. W. Long, but is unlikely again to approach so close to the earth for many years. Dr H. W. Wood, the Union astronomer, expresses the opinion that the measured , track of the planet is so small that is is impossible to determine the course with any exactitude. If it does re-cross the earth’s orbit it does not follow that the earth will be in that particular section of the planet’s orbit. A sky photograph taken on October 27 shows the planet only as a streak, 1.5 millimetres long. Its shortness is due to the fact that the planet was travelling towards the earth almost end-on. The planet was originally 40 times too faint to be perceived by the naked eye, but at its brightest’was six times too faint to be perceived. Its brightness suggests that it was five miles in diameter.
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Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 49, 26 January 1938, Page 2
Word Count
190“RUNAWAY PLANET.” Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 49, 26 January 1938, Page 2
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